Honest Reign

"Flashback: Sinéad O'Connor Covers Nirvana's "All Apologies" In 1995 ▿ Alessandra Schade ▿ July 28, 2023 ▿ In the days following Sinéad O’Connor’s death — snippets, soundbites & memories from the Irish singer’s life have circulated the internet, dusting off the heirlooms we’ve collected in our cobwebbed attics. As we hit play on deep cuts we may have forgotten about, or flip through photos we’ve never seen, we get to once again revel in the fierce vitality of an artist who defied rules & conformity. But one video in particular that has made its internet rounds, holds a unique piece of history that feels eerily sad & familiar. It’s O’Connor’s gentle cover of Nirvana’s “All Apologies” from the band’s third album, In Utero.

At its face, it’s a stunning acoustic ballad ~softer & more halting than its grunge predecessor~ nestled in O’Connor’s fourth studio album Universal Mother. The song had a brief resurgence in 2019, when it appeared on the second episode of Big Little Lies’ second season, but the haunting cut has a deeper history. The track was released just months after the song’s composer, Kurt Cobain, died from a self-inflicted shotgun to the head. Releasing a version of the Nirvana song soon after Cobain’s su***de would have likely been a dicey idea at the time. The lyrics, brimming with self-loathing & regret, hold the aching story of a man who’s let down his family. The desperate war-cry foretells what would eventually unfold. In the wake of his death, to touch this sensitive landmine would be precarious, at best.

But O’Connor’s delicate take on “All Apologies” is spellbinding. Her hushed vocals coat the acoustic guitar in soft gauze until it barely registers. Spare, tender & stripped-down, the song's gentle delivery proved that she was a deserved emissary of Cobain's penned grief. To O'Connor, Cobain "represented a massive amount of people who were really kind of invisible & unheard, who had a lot of pain, a lot of stuff that needed to be heard." While she has never said whether her cover was intended purely as a tribute to the late 27-year-old, or if it was already in the works~ chances are, the capricious Irish singer felt an unavoidable kinship. Like Cobain, O’Connor struggled throughout her career with mental health & the pressures of success. Both were unlikely pop stars who never wanted its sparkling title.

In 1995, a year after O’Connor’s rendition of the song was released, she promoted the record with an appearance on Dutch TV where she performed the Nirvana cover. It's an ethereal performance that showcases the Irish singer's striking vocals, even when stripped back to a breathy whisper. The haunting beauty of her evocative performance rang bittersweet to all who loved and remembered Cobain. As we grapple with O’Connor’s death, nearly three decades after the iconic frontman's passing, the feeling is familiar, bizarre & ultimately, just as painful."

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In its most general sense, a fair use is any copying of copyrighted material done for a limited & “transformative” purpose, such as to comment upon, criticize, or parody a copyrighted work. Such uses can be done without permission from the copyright owner. In other words, fair use is a defense against a claim of copyright infringement. If your use qualifies as a fair use, then it would not be considered an infringement.

So what is a “transformative” use? If this definition seems ambiguous or vague, be aware that millions of dollars in legal fees have been spent attempting to define what qualifies as a fair use. There are no hard-&-fast rules, only general guidelines & varied court decisions, because the judges & lawmakers who created the fair use exception did not want to limit its definition. Like free speech, they wanted it to have an expansive meaning that could be open to interpretation.

Most fair use analysis falls into two categories: (1) commentary & criticism, or (2) parody.

Happy Birthday To One Of The Men Who Most Influenced My Musical History. My Little Brother Was Born 5 Days Before My 10th Birthday & I Always Call Him My Birthday Gift. He Was My Only Friend As A 14-15 Year Old Being Bullied At School (& At Home) & I'd Come Home & We'd Listen To "And Justice For All" Not Knowing At The Time He Shared The Same Birthday As James. He Went On To Play Guitar & Sound (& Kinda Look) Just Like Him When He Sings. We Went To The Horseshoe In 2003 At OSU To See Them Play The Sanitarium Tour Together & That Was One Of The Best Shows Of My Life!! Thank You For The Great Memories & Here's To Another Great Celebration Of Your Birth & Life. Happy Birthday To My Brother Mitchell As Well On Your BIG 40!!..I Love You Endlessly Little Brother..🌹❤️🪽